Discussion about Australia's ageing population has focused on the importance of increasing labour force participation rates of older people. This paper examines the influence of education and training on the participation of older people in the labour market, and the pay-off of undertaking education and training as an older-person compared to earlier in life. On the whole, the results indicate the more qualifications the better, and education, lifelong learning and training are beneficial to maintaining and increasing employment rates. Qualifications acquired later in life have as good, and in some cases, better, pay-off to employment-to-population rates for older age groups, suggesting education is an effective strategy for older people seeking employment. The authors also suggest that increasing education levels will partially offset the impact of ageing on labour force participation.
This paper provides an overview of the factors which influence and drive Australia's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector. It details the objectives of Australia's national strategy for TVET from 2004 to 2010, and key initiatives of the sector to meet the changing economic and technological environment: a review of training packages, and a review of the national standards for training providers. It also discusses issues facing the TVET sector, as identified in a paper published by the Business Council of Australia (2004). Further, an overview of the apprenticeship and traineeship system, which has expanded considerably in recent years, is provided. This paper was presented to the International Vocational Education Conference, October 2004, in Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
Lifelong learning means different things to different people. This paper takes a pragmatic approach and examines adult engagement with various aspects of Australia's education and training system and the policy framework that underpins the system. It is argued that Australia's policy framework for lifelong learning is relatively weak because the educational framework is very open and does not discriminate on the basis of age. In a sense, Australia does not have a policy because it does not need one: its whole approach has encouraged lifelong learning.
This paper aims to establish the importance of vocational education and training (VET) to young people in South Australia in Adelaide and regional areas. It is based on analysis of the number of young people and their characteristics within two broad groups: those who complete 12 years of schooling and continue their education in VET; and those who leave school before Year 12 but continue their education in VET. It finds that VET, as a substitute for continuing school, is important in Adelaide and regional areas, although it is more important in non-metropolitan areas. Further, lower socio-economic status areas have considerable numbers of students leaving school before Year 12, but who continue their education in VET. This paper was prepared for the review into the South Australian Certificate of Education.
Dr Tom Karmel, Managing Director, NCVER, presented this paper at the 2003 Australian Council for Private Education and Training National Conference, 28-30 August 2003. It discusses NCVER's work to expand its national statistics collection to capture Australia's total vocational education and training (VET) effort under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Currently, there is a significant information gap relating to the collection of statistics from privately funded, AQF-related VET activity.